Feature Articles

There are many possible ways to approach marketing measurement, depending upon industry, company lifestage, competitive environment, and many other variables. But there are just some things that have been found to be true far more often than not. Here are 10 foundational truths that form the bedrock of measurement success.

It helps to blend a little art with all the science to paint the complete picture of your organization's marketing effectiveness.

Today there are new, affordable ways to get insightful perspective on a broad spectrum of opportunities in just days: multivariable testing, discrete choice modeling, and partial differential testing, to name a few.

Trying to figure out where to put those analysts? Here are three of the most common marketing measurement organizational models and the pros and cons of each.

A structured approach to forecasting can stave off risky investments and improve marketing effectiveness. But there are plenty of potential gotchas along the way. We describe five common forecasting mistakes and ways to avoid them.

Intuition and tools alone do not create an accurate forecast. Consistency and accuracy will only be achieved with sound procedures and the ability to identify what information is essential to the process. Here is a basic recipe that will provide structure and stability to your forecasting process.

We help you navigate the path toward better marketing accountability with tips on avoiding the most common tripping hazards.

You've sent your marketing dollars out into the field to do their thing; now, one of the Washingtons is writing back to you with some words of wisdom about his mission, his legacy ... and what the finance guys are saying about you.

Speed up your time to market with Test Acceleration, an approach that combines the Web, discrete choice modeling, and constrained optimization. By John Cripps, Ph.D. 

The true story of one company’s marketing dashboard project, which from the start seemed destined to collapse under the weight of dirty data, a decentralized structure, and a marketing culture more accustomed to “gut” marketing than accountability.

Which marketing metrics should you disclose to shareholders and the financial markets? And is disclosure a slippery slope, or a shareholder value-builder?

While some great strides have been made in the realm of marketing measurement, many marketers still feel like they're drowning in a sea of uncertainty about what they should measure — not just what they can. We checked in with a half-dozen senior marketers from different industry segments to see how well their marketing measurement and dashboard capabilities were evolving.

This article compares different approaches for budget allocation. The conclusion: A response-curve approach provides a rigorous framework for this key activity, but it does not (and should not) be tied to opaque “black box” techniques. The response-curve approach can be supported with econometric analysis, and although these methods should not replace business planning expertise, they can provide specific and valuable guidance for the budget-allocation process.

The Marketing Leadership Council releases its latest research into best practices in the development of marketing dashboards. Get an exclusive look here.

Discusses the impact of word of mouth (WOM). While there’s no debating the benefits of referrals and other positive word-of-mouth activity, the challenge involves getting our arms around the impact of WOM as a driver of business growth — and good communication with upper management about what we’re trying to accomplish and why.

Meet the Pocket Price Waterfall: an algorithm-free pricing tool to help you decide how (and where) to price up.

Reputation indexes, media content analysis, and reputation mix models are all often used for measuring reputation progression. We break down the characteristics of each for you.

Can you measure "return on reputation"? We walk you through the key steps to measuring the value of reputation initiatives, from the tools you'll need to the questions you should ask.

Although it's hard to use the words "simple" and "brand scorecard" in the same sentence without trivializing the complexities of brand asset management, here's a sample that may help you frame your needs in measuring brand attribute drivers.

Learn how Office Depot increased sales and decreased costs by shifting the organizational structure and employing sound measurement to support its complex business model. An MNPV case study.

A knowledge base can improve the quality of work you get from the marketing team, not to mention the productivity — and the skill development opportunities are significant.

Asking how to do brand valuation is very secondary to asking why do it. There aren't as many good reasons as methodologies. By David Haigh and Jonathan Knowles.

As marketers establish competency at measuring the traditional elements of their marketing programs, an entirely new group of key performance metrics is beginning to come into view. We look at seven such metrics that could have significant impact on marketers’ future measurement efforts.

Engagement has been tagged the exciting "new" way to measure advertising effectiveness -- but be careful not to take it at face value. We'll show you how to recognize the true value of engagement as a process, not just a "stage."

Learn how the sports entertainment giant turned around ratings with new promotional criteria and measurement tools. An MNPV case study.

In September 2003, Red Lobster ran a promotion that backfired and lost millions. This case study discusses how the plan, likely based on assumptions and averages, did not pay enough attention to the serious damage that could (and did) happen at the edges of probability. It also suggests how the disaster could easily have been avoided.

The business solutions giant successfully delivers bottom-line results by employing a multi-pronged global reputation management strategy.

Despite some good progress, our industry remains a far distance from our goal of understanding the relationships between spend and financial returns. Is your measurement effort stalled?

Provides insights on how to choose a forecasting methodology and a comparison of using spreadsheets versus forecasting packages.

Like a child, a new product is born without a history. Several techniques for forecasting without historical data, such as the Delphi Method and Monte Carlo simulation, are discussed.

The crux of any conflict between marketing and finance often involves a lack of trust. One way that CMOs can (re-)establish a foundation of trust with finance is to build a "credibility chain." We show you how.

Rick Watrall, one of the world’s foremost experts on marketing-mix modeling, dissects the key trends he foresees shaping the marketing analytics space over the next few years, and how the tools, skills, and processes will enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

The title pretty much says it all. This is a short list of important forecasting terminology.

Get an inside look at how the hotel giant employed a balanced scorecard to help drive profits, pricing, and brand equity. An MNPV case study.

In 1992, when satellite TV was still in its infancy, Professor Bass was asked to assist DirecTV in developing a forecast for the market potential. Here's how they did it. An MNPV case study.

Some elements of marketing measurement are only handled effectively through marketing research. But in many companies, research appears to be suffering from a credibility crisis. CMOs may want to think about redirecting their research capabilities more strategically to improve their contributions to marketing effectiveness measurement.

Learn how to identify the various types of loyalty relationships and hone in on the metrics that will allow you to successfully forecast changes in customer profitability.

As the dynamics of both consumers and communication channels change, marketers are seeking new and better ways to measure the effectiveness of their programs and justify their marketing spend. One concept that has elbowed its way to the front of the metrics pack is “engagement,” which is rapidly gaining favor among marketers and media buyers as a critical measurement of customer value and brand strength.

Doing business today requires an environmental sustainability strategy — one that is a competitve differentiator and profit generator. After surveying the landscape of green metrics, we provide a first look at how they are beginning to show up in measurement frameworks.

Marketing is all about taking risks to achieve competitive advantage. So how do you manage the smart risks and minimize the dumb ones?

Getting the right marketing analyst can be challenging, especially if you're hiring one for the first time. Here is a step-by-step approach proven effective in over 20 years of practice and hundreds of successful hires. By E. Daniel Raz

How do you gather up all the marketing knowledge in a single repository in a giant corporation? Learn how IBM attacked the problem with multiple solutions for multiple purposes across several user groups. An MNPV case study.

We break down the various brand measurement methodologies practiced by some leading vendors and offer a summary comparison for your review.

Learn how internal brand metrics can uncover and keep the focus on how the brand drives the bottom line from the inside out. By W. Thomas Nelson

The most common obstacles to successful marketing ROI measurement are organizational in nature — structure, process, skills, culture. But which are the right moves to get you back on the fast track to credibility and accountability?

We try to untangle the fact from fiction about word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing and offer a prescription for WOM measurement.

Tim Ambler assesses the relative strengths and weaknesses of ROI, NPV, and other options for marketing measurement metrics. Which ones hold the key to insight and accountability?

In Part Two of his article on the search for the “silver metric” for marketing accountability, Tim Ambler takes issue with one of today’s most talked-about measurement methodologies.

Companies that have fully integrated Six Sigma into their regular marketing-decision processes report having great success in several areas.

According to marketers who are admitted reluctant converts to Six Sigma, there are a few things the Black Belts can do to ensure a faster adoption curve and achieve better results within marketing.

Despite the ready availability of better tools and processes, most companies are determining their marketing budgets in much the same way as they have for the last 20+ years. We offer 7 best budget allocation practices that can breathe life into this antiquated process.

Discover how marketing dashboards can help you (re)define the role of marketing in your organization and keep everyone aligned behind it.

See where your marketing organization is located and heading in relationship to others, and whether or not it's time to move to the next level.

A simple overview of some of the most common practices for measuring the value of brand-building initiatives and gauging return on marketing investment (ROMI).

Discover tools for measuring trade show and event marketing effectiveness, as well as techniques for measuring results metrics. By Ruth Stevens

To make smarter investments, CMOs must develop a deeper understanding of the drivers — and destroyers — of customer value.

Marketing-mix models are evolving in their structure and application. See how the value of these tools is expanding, and where you need to be careful in relying on them too much.

Fifty years of research into advertising effectiveness has resulted in some proven best practices and debunked many longstanding myths. Can you tell one from the other?

Find out why buyers and sellers of sports advertising alike are cheering for a new service that measures sponsor-placed media seen on televised sporting events.

Five essential components for CMO success that every senior (or aspiring) marketing exec should consider.

In its simplest definition, Six Sigma is an approach to identify and eliminate defects so products and services better meet customer requirements.

See how the software developer revved up sales with some enlightened testing to optimize response. An MNPV case study.

For Armstrong World Industries, a $5MM investment in a global pricing validation system generated huge returns.

See how HSBC used creative measurement approaches to decrease costs and increase efficiencies. An MNPV case study.

To build a more effective framework for budgeting and resource allocation, CMOs need to get their arms around what they know — and what they need to know — about their marketing programs. We offer a three-step program for shoring up your knowledge and making more disciplined — and defensible — budgeting decisions.

When ServiceMaster looked at price elasticity, they found much more of it in their sales force than in their customer base. This Six Sigma case shows how they diagnosed and fixed the problem.

How can you take better advantage of what Six Sigma has to offer to help measure and improve marketing effectiveness?

When LSI Logic decided to migrate its Six Sigma program from manufacturing and engineering to the marketing department, the decision makers knew they were in for a challenge.

Learn how to solidify your pricing strategy with customer input on the Price Sensitivity Meter (a.k.a. the van Westendorp Procedure).

B2B companies are making some progress in using segmentation beyond marcom-tuning or sales targeting. But the bigger picture shows a somewhat surprising adherence to the status quo.

Find out how you can score points with the C-suite using this invaluable approach to marketing management.

Linking investments in branding with bottom-line value creation is today's most common marketing measurement challenge. To successfully create and sell your business case for brand building, consider using a brand scorecard.

Some valuable tips for establishing a framework in which insight into the value of branding investments can guide the type and level of brand marketing.

Find out how setting the definition of marketing ROI can drive the right decisions in creating and executing more profitable marketing strategies.

The ability to funnel all media behavior into a single data source is considered the Holy Grail among media buyers and planners. But while there is plenty of excitement around single-source initiatives, several barriers remain on the road to single-source nirvana.

Curious about your fellow marketers' methods for tackling measurement challenges? Check out the results of the latest ANA/Forrester Research marketing accountability study.

In most Global 1000 companies, power struggles inhibit the development of further insight into marketing’s impact on the bottom line. Lack of money, resources, and inability to focus all play a role, but the real culprit may be too much emphasis on individual power — how much control one is perceived to have over outcomes.

Find out how The Timken Company is using a marketing dashboard to meet their B2B marketing measurement challenges.

The market for marketing analysts is booming. Should you hire one to manage your measurement activity? Take the test.

Home Depot, HP, Allstate, and more ... Be a fly on the wall as eight leading CMOs offer their unique perspectives on the challenges of measuring marketing effectiveness.

Get an inside look at the marketing measurement challenges Unisys faced while building their marketing dashboard. An MNPV case study.

Learn how using customer franchise value to bridge short- and long-term investments can facilitate buy-in, top-down acceptance, and budget commitment from finance.

Learn how a top retailer rebounded from a serious sales slump by employing multivariable testing (MVT).

See how Eli Lilly measured the impact its corporate branding initiative had on its reputation with customers, employees, partners, and managed-care directors.

The Web has generated enough tracking, testing, and merchandising tools to keep an analyst happily traipsing through data for decades. However, marketers are realizing that there's more there than meets the mouse. By Jim Sterne

Web site statistics provide, in the words of Jim Sterne, "the collective electrocardiogram of your prospects and customers." Here, he shows how those visitor statistics, as well as other web-enabled methods, such as instant surveys and user testing, can help enhance your understanding of your marketplace. By Jim Sterne

It may be early in the budget cycle, but for many of us the request for cuts will start soon. We'll give you a few ideas for how to minimize the effect of the falling axe. A few moments of thought now can save lots of aggravation later in the year.

We've found five distinct levels of proficiency in measuring marketing ROI. Find out what level you are on and how to move up a step or two and improve your measurement effectiveness.

Are marketing meters worn on the belt and smart shopping carts the wave of the future? Some marketers eagerly anticipate new measurement tools that engage consumers.